Psychedelic punk rock and shoegaze never seemed to have taken off in the local Indian scene, but thankfully, we don’t have to look any farther than just beyond the border. Pakistan’s indie scene is so much more into experimental and //orangenoise’s first full-length 11-track release A Journey To The Heart Of The Matter, is a great introduction to new fans, especially with “Clipped”, a lament for the weekend.

Formed in 2010, they made a larger impression early last year when they released their EP Veracious. Their music sounds closest to American shoegaze/garage punk band Deerhunter and My Bloody Valentine, the Irish band that is largely credited with shaping shoegaze as a genre. After premiering a few of their new songs on Pakistan’s music reality TV show Uth Records in April this year, the Karachi quartet seemed to have matured greatly in terms of song-writing. “Chaser” and “I Don’t Know” contain just the right mix of the haze of trippy, spaced out rock, never improvising too much and sticking to a clear-cut song structure.

Reverb-heavy vocals are present on almost all songs, which is responsible making this album monotonous at times, but “Hopeful Creatures” still catches on due to its math-rock guitar (reminiscent of Manchester prog rockers Oceansize) courtesy Talha Asim Wynne. “Red Sweater” is the longest track on the album, with six minutes of Smashing Pumpkins-esque mellow rock. It’s on this track they probably come closest to fitting their self-ascribed tag of ‘psychedelic chappalgazers’. Album closer “Not the Same” has a chockfull of guitar riffs infused over the wavy vocals of Wynne and bassist Daniel Arthur Panjwaneey.

A Journey To The Heart Of The Matter is a trip that takes over you and you’re better off not resisting.

Download and pay what you want for A Journey To The Heart Of The Matter here.